On a picture-perfect October 1st California morning, the 34th Annual Manhattan Beach 10K kicked off the Hometown Fair weekend. In impressive fashion, almost 70 Club Ed runners competed, and over the 6+ miles of neighbors, hills, turns, and Strand, they paced, raced, chased, and faced their competitors, friends, and team members in the perennial end-of-the-season race.

The overall race was won by Tito Lezama, from El Camino JC, in a time of 31:51. Club Ed racers in the Top 10 included Mike Sevier (6th), Humberto Sanchez (7th), and Jon Megeff (8th). The women’s race saw history being made, as our own Nathalie Higley made it 10 Hometown 10K wins, this one in 36:51. Club members chasing chasing Nathalie in the Top 10 were Alison Atkinson (2nd), Emily Anderson (3rd), Tamar Gamliel (5th), Annie Seawright-Newton (8th), and Kaci Bathurst (10th). See full team results below and complete MB10K race results here.

Jon Megeff continued to impress as he has at virtually every race this year, finishing in a new PR and showing he is ready for a breakout effort at the Chicago Marathon on Oct 9th. Alison Atkinson took home the First Manhattan Beach Resident Female Finisher again this year. Many of our racers teamed up with sons, daughters, sisters, and brothers to win or place in the assorted team competitions as well. Year-long grudges were settled, new ones were started, and bragging rights were established until next year’s race.

The new club uniforms were eye-catching and impressive, as groups of team members ran in packs, lines, and pursuit teams across the course. True to form and directive, most helped each other until the Strand, at which point ruthless racing generally broke out for the big finish at the Manhattan Pier. Many were happy about their race, some were rueful, a few were dejected…but all are to be commended for a great effort.

One of our own (Dave Grethen) succumbed to heat exhaustion in the latter stages of the race, but some much-appreciated help from the paramedics and lifeguards carefully monitoring the race course helped Dave back to a more even keel (and we are happy to report that Dave was fine after the race; a huge THANKS to the Emergency Responders). Other team members who did not compete, by choice or due to injury, helped to line the course and cheer on their teammates. Following the race, much of the race strategy was de-constructed during several hours of technical review in the Beer Garden at the Fair…and many more hours of review are sure to take place.

Congratulations to you all on a great run, on a challenging course, on a warm day in Manhattan Beach...and on to the next race! Thanks again to Rich Gust & Vicki for taking photos during the race. See more race photos on Facebook.